Before and After

Photo date: Jan 28

I haven’t shown a before and after for awhile.  These were taken at the park around 2 in the afternoon, so not the best time to take photos.  It was a semi-cloudy day and I was testing my 85mm.  I loved the look on Charlotte’s face and the side/backlighting in her hair.  However the photo seemed really cool to me.  I also didn’t like the super washed out look.

I fixed the white balance, using levels and the white dropper and increased blacks slightly in levels.  I upped the exposure just a bit using curves.  I cropped so that it had a better composition.

I wanted it to feel sunnier and softer so I ran some actions, but modified them to my liking.  I first ran Nelly Nero Spicy October and adjusted all of the layers that added color, plus the desat layer.  I also masked out her skin and shirt on the desat layer.  Then I ran Pioneer Woman’s sunshine, but reduced the opacity of the layers quite a bit and again masked her skin from the warmth.  I then did a slight sharpen for web. 

Baby Sister’s Maternity Photos

My baby sister is pregnant with her first baby and she asked me if I would take some maternity photos.  I have no idea how to pose people, give them direction, and I’ve never taken photos of a pregnant women, but I figured it would be great practice for me.  I LOVE how all the photos turned out.  I had a hard time choosing which ones to edit!  Adults who follow direction and sit still are SO much easier than toddlers.  And notice that ALL of the photos are in portrait, instead of my usual landscape?  I guess that’s what felt natural for these!

And how beautiful is my sister?  I love her and I am so excited to meet my nephew!

Winter day?

Photo date: Jan 28

One of the reasons I love Colorado is the weather, more specifically the changes in weather.  It was snowing the week before and then warm enough for shorts and t-shirts, then bitter cold.  So amazing after living in 74 degree weather for 8 years! 

This was taken with my 85mm and I was surprised at how much I could get in frame…I should have taken a wider angle with me.  The kids were actually enthralled with the construction going on and the big crane.  I was trying to balance exposing the sky and my subjects they way I wanted.  Not quite what I imagined, but close.

You can see the differences in editing here.  I increased blacks and contrast and then corrected white balance using the white cloud.  I love how pretty the mountains are!

This one I warmed up quite a bit and lost the saturation of the sky/mountains in order to properly expose my subjects.  I may work on editing this some more to bring back some blue in the sky, but I can’t figure out how to make it look natural.  I love taking photos of them from behind because I can really see the height differences between them…I don’t think I’ll ever stop being amazed at how much bigger Cooper is.  People don’t really ask if they are twins anymore and assume Cooper is a couple years older because of his size.

Becoming a little boy

Photo date: Jan 24

I miss Cooper being a baby and he is quickly moving from toddler to little boy.  He is huge and wears 5T clothing (he’ll be 3 in April).  This photo really shows how much he is starting to look like a little boy.  (Don’t mind his hair…we are letting it grow out a bit and then taking him to our hair dresser to get it cut properly.)

Eyelashes

Photo date: Jan 24

I have been trying to capture a close up of their eyes to get their eyelashes.  No easy feat given they move all.the.time.  I’m also getting used to close ups with my 85mm because it has a longer minimum focusing distance.  We have cut out naps so that bedtime goes quicker, but they still need 20-40 min catnaps.  They crawl up on the couch and fall asleep for a bit.  I love seeing them sleep and Charlotte looks adorable here.  I love her thumb, blanky, and super long beautiful lashes with the little tear.

B&W Expressions

Photo date: Jan 22

Obviously not in order…but catching up!

I have been experimenting with different B&W conversions.  I generally use a variety of actions (Nelly Nero are my favorites) and then tweak to my liking.  This one is Grunge and you can see  how I can make it look slightly different depending on what I tweak and the lighting.  I like the extra sharpening that adds grain because B&W photos can become a little more interesting with some noise.

I really loved their expressions…this was the first time I learned that Cooper gives a super cheesy smile when asked to smile for the camera.

Calendar Pictures

Photo date: Jan 30

I make calendars every year for the grandparents and this year there was a misprint.  Shutterfly was fantastic and sent new calendars out for free and fixed the misprint.  Love their service.  I gave the old calendar to the kids and Charlotte adores it.  Two months later she is still talking about her choo-choo party and loves looking at the photos.

Silly Valentines

I’m a little tired and I probably should have waited to edit, but this photo cracked me up.  I have a few more to go through…and I’m going to try to catch up a bit on blogging this week.